Twinthology: Tales of the Children of Balor
by Elizabeth Athineu
Summary: Join Prince Nuada and Princess Nuala on five enchanting journeys from their childhood as the prince tells his nephew of the past.
1. Introduction

**Introduction:**

"Did not!" Aidan shouted angrily.

"Did so!" Aine spat back. The two turned to their best friend in exasperation. "Tell him I'm right, Leo!"

"But neither of you . . ." Leopold began timidly.

"Leave him out of this," Aidan yelled as he placed both hands on his sister's shoulders and shoved her harshly. "He's not the one being stupid!'

Aine snarled and shoved her twin brother back in the same manner. Aidan growled and smacked at his sister's arm. Aine shrieked and kicked at her brother's shin. Leopold whimpered and glanced uncomfortably at the door. Their parents, all four of them, were away on a very dangerous assignment for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Before Red and Elizabeth Broom along with Abraham and Nuala Sapien left for the mission, they had headed to Newgrange in Ireland to leave their children in the care of the only being equipped to watch over them. Leopold was more familiar with their sitter than the twins, but that would not make this any more comfortable for the timid sea-elf.

He sighed heavily and walked quickly to the door as the squabble continued. He had to put an end to this, but he would need outside help in doing so. The two half demons growled and threw their fists and legs at one another. As they fell to the floor in their battle, the intensity and frequency of the blows increased. Aidan reached out and grabbed hold of Aine's long, black braid and yanked on it as hard as he could while slamming a hand harshly into his sister's forehead. Aine cried and closed her eyes, throwing her fist firmly into her brother's jaw. Aidan began crying and tried to throw his sister to the side.

"What in heaven's name do you think you are doing?!" a loud, angry, and very important voice demanded from the doorway. The twins froze, sobbing as they watched as their caretaker approached angrily. They scooted away from one another as Prince Nuada Silverlance, the king of the magical realm, and Leopold's uncle, stormed over to them. "What happened?"

The two sat upright, sniffing and whimpering as the prince folded his arms and stared down at them harshly.

"It . . . wasn't . . . my . . . fault," Aidan said between gasps and sniffs. "Aine's . . . being . . . mean."

Nuada sighed and reached down to take both of the children by the arm. As he lifted the half demon twins into the air, he noticed a large bruise forming on the girl-child's forehead. She sniffed and closed her eyes tightly, doing her best not to cry as loudly as her brother. The prince frowned and sat down in a nearby chair, taking the one girl into his lap and looking at the bruise more carefully. Leopold came and meekly stood beside Aidan who stared angrily at his sister and the elf. Aine winced as Nuada placed a hand over the growing bruise. The prince closed his eyes and breathed deeply, willing the wound to heal. Leopold turned to Aidan and frowned.

"Now you've done it," the sea-elf hissed in a whisper. Aidan turned and glared at his pseudo-cousin. "We're all going to be in trouble."

"Me? You're the one that didn't tell her to be quiet when I did," Aidan replied in a harsh whisper. "It's your fault we're in trouble."

"Leopold is neither at fault nor in any form of trouble other than being connected on an intimate level with a brother and sister who can't seem to get along," Nuada announced as he removed his hand from Aine's head and looked into the girl's eyes. "It is both brother and sister at fault when a fight breaks out between them." He reached forward and softly smoothed a lock of the girl's hair away. "Neither is usually innocent and both are usually harmed in any case."

"How would you know?" Aine asked softly. She wiped a final tear away from her eyes and leaned into the elf, wrapping her arms around him for comfort. He sighed and looked over at his nephew with a smirk. "How would you know what this is like?"

"It just so happens that I have a sister, a twin sister. Leopold's mother, Nuala, is my other half." He shifted the girl to one side of his lap and gestured for the two boys to come and sit near them. Leopold looked at Aidan and smiled brightly. "And as it would also happen, there was a time when she and I fought like nothing else."

Leopold took a seat on the floor in front of his uncle and looked toward Aidan until the boy did the same. The sea-elf looked as excited as a child about to receive a gift. He leaned over to his friend and whispered excitedly. "When my uncle tells a story, it's always incredible," he whispered. Aidan frowned and folded his arms angrily as he situated himself on the floor. "You and mother used to fight?"

"Nearly all the time," Nuada replied.

"She probably kept bothering you until you couldn't take another minute," Aidan huffed.

The prince fixed his eyes directly on the half demon and grinned. "As a matter of fact, Nuala was usually the initiator of our conflicts and was usually the first to get physical," he added. "It was not until I was close to finding my warrior's title that she and I both discovered how much we loved each other and how much our fighting got in the way of it."

Aidan and Aine both perked up at this. Their mother had said to them over and over again when having to stop the fighting that someday they would realize just how much they loved and needed each other. Had the mother of Nuada and Nuala said the very same thing? More importantly, how had it come to be true? The two grew very silent and fixed their attention fully on the prince as Leopold made himself comfortable and readied to hear another wonderful story from his family's past.

"Now, let me see," Nuada said looking toward the ceiling as he remembered his past. "Ah, yes. I was about your age as matter of fact, Leopold. I believe you already know, my nephew, that my title is Silverlance. However, I think there are few that know that what actually gave me my title was not silver at all. It was a golden sword. A golden sword give to me by a most unusual creature."


	2. The Silverstar ch1

**Story #1: The Silverstar and the Golden Sword**

The time has come for the young Prince Nuada to find a warrior's title and he seems uninterested in his own strength. The prince must overcome sibling rivalry and ridicule when he is called upon to rescue his twin sister from the clutches of a band of ogre brigands and prove that they are both loved.

**Chapter 1:**

"Nuala, where is your brother?" Aine asked hotly. The princess folded both hands gracefully behind her back and gave her mother her best innocent smile dripping with sweetness and sunshine. Aine crossed her arms. "Well?"

"I don't know, mother," the princess lied sweetly. "I haven't seen him all morning."

"Nuala, I know for a fact that your father told you and Nuada to go for a walk in the forest to clear your minds after the . . . _tiff_ you had at breakfast," Aine sighed. She stared down harshly at her daughter, trying to coax a confession from her with as little effort as possible. Nuala began swaying to one side and then the other casually, keeping both arms folded behind her. Aine huffed and stood over her child angrily. "Nuala . . ."

"Alright!" she shouted in angered defeat. She sighed pitifully and folded her arms firmly in front of her. "He's stuck in a tree on the east edge of the forest, not that it matters."

"In the elder willows!?" Aine cried in horror. "Balor!"

A moment later, the aging king entered the hallway and looked in confusion from daughter to mother. The king was growing older by the day not because of the burden of the crown, but because of the antics of the twins. Nuala and Nuada were perfectly intelligent children and normal little elves in every way. Nuada had odd markings, but was otherwise an obedient son and a loving little boy. Nuala was a well-mannered princess with the charm of a cat. Yet it seemed that both prince and princess could not muster enough charm or love to tolerate the presence of one another for more than a few seconds. Nuala was the culprit for the majority of antics being the outgoing and more expressive of the two. Phrases like 'You were adopted, really' and 'Mother bought you from trolls' were common weapons the princess used in tormenting her silent angry brother when not inflicting something physical on him. Though the king tried to break his son of his self-induced solemnity, it seemed the boy was more content to go off and sulk by himself when his sister attacked rather than lash back. On many an occasion, Aine cradled the boy in her lap and soothed him herself. These instances, as well as Nuada retaliating verbally at a volume much louder than his twin sister's were growing in frequency and length. Balor had taken just about all he could of the girl's cruelty and his son's silence.

"Where is he, Aine?" he asked with a sigh. "What did she do to him?"

"Why is everyone blaming me?" Nuala squeaked in feigned hurt.

"She left him in a tree in the elder willows on the east side of the forest," Aine explained with a wave of both arms in exasperation. "Balor, you must do something to get him to stand firm and wise against these assaults. I cannot make Nuala kind, but surely you can make Nuada strong."

"Nuada is still trying to find his warrior title," Balor said with a sad shake of his head as he called for two servants. The servants came and bowed low before their king. "Go and retrieve the prince. He lies in a tree on the east side of the forest. And be quick, a storm approaches." The servants looked uneasily from king to queen before turning to leave. Balor sighed and looked at Aine with a smile. "_I'll_ go and get him. He'll be fine."

"Balor, he's only a little boy," Aine continued. The king frowned as he set his crown in his queen's hands.

"Our son is growing, Aine, and will be a child while he takes on the responsibilities of a warrior and a king. He must learn to develop discipline and strength," the king corrected. "Besides, there's only so much bullying a boy will take before he takes drastic steps." Balor sighed heavily and moved out of the hallway and towards the entrance to the palace. Aine frowned and watched her husband stride away. She turned to their daughter and frowned. Nuala frowned a little and folded her hands in front of her, lowering her head.

"Mother, I am terribly sorry about leaving my brother in the forest," she said with feigned remorse. Aine glared at the girl. Nuala lowered her head all the more, hoping the depth of her bow would convince her mother of her small regret. "I really am."

"Then you may tell him when he and your father return," Aine replied sharply. Nuala looked away. It was never a good thing for their father to have to step away from his duties as king and have to tend to either of his children exclusively. Aine shook her head and caught her skirt in her hands enough to keep it from getting in the way as she began to hurry down the hallway away from the girl. She turned and called to the princess over her shoulder. "Come, Nuala. Your brother may be out of commission for the afternoon, but you still have lessons to attend."

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"Your majesty, please come down from there right this instant!" the servant who acted as Chamberlain for King Balor demanded. The prince, who sat against what was left of a small, thin branch, clung for his life to a rather large black willow tree. The Chamberlain had been sent to go and retrieve the elfling, as he was usually given charge over the boy during his lessons. The Chamberlain rather looked like a willow tree himself with long, spindly pale-beige arms that seemed to end in spidery branches that acted as fingers. Though no one had seen the troll-creature's legs through the long, thick, ceremonial robes that he always wore, everyone expected that the same virtues could be applied to the lower extremeties as well. The troll creature put a spidery hand to his mouth and blinked his large black eyes anxiously as he watched the prince shift his weight and heard a loud groaning from the tree. "Sire, please, that tree will not be able to handle you much longer."

"I'm not coming down," Prince Nuada announced proudly as he kept his amber eyes closed. He hated the idea that he was up so high and now so helpless because of his sister once more, but the thought of making everyone think that this had been his idea seemed to be the answer to his troubles. All he had to do was keep his wits about him and continue to keep an iron grip on the bark. "I have found a purpose and a title."

"Have you now?" King Balor's voice asked from beneath the frightened prince. Nuada perked up and opened his eyes at hearing his father. He glanced over his shoulder once, turning away quickly at seeing how high he was. Balor smirked in amusement and turned, nodding to the Chamberlain that he could go on his way. The Chamberlain bowed his head and hurried back towards the palace. Balor folded his arms. "And what made you think that Prince Nuada Tree-hug would be a suitable title?"

The prince shifted his grasp, frowning at his father's words. He sighed heavily and fought away a stream of tears. His father had seemed to have little faith in him becoming a proper warrior at all. He drew in a sharp breath through pursed lips and tightened his grip. He had to prove that this was not a traumatic situation for him. He suddenly felt the remnant of the branch beneath him groan and snap three times within its centre. He gasped and clung more tightly to the tree. Two servants that had gone out after the king at the queen's bequest stepped beside their sovereign and looked up at the sight of the prince caught like a stunned cat with horror.

"I believe that I should protect the forest, father, and this is how I choose to do it," Nuada replied firmly. The branch snapped several more times and the tree groaned. In its ancient and silent voice the tree told the prince that it truly was not safe to hold on any longer and to call for help immediately. The prince leaned his forehead against the tree and begged it to hold onto him. The tree groaned loudly. Balor frowned as the servants began whispering to one another urgently. "Please don't let me fall," the prince whispered aloud as one tear fell down his pale, scarred cheek. "Please just let me stay here away from everything."

CRACK! The branch beneath the prince broke and fell apart. The servants cried out in surprise as the prince shrieked and felt his grip on the bark fall away. He watched the dark surface of the tree slip away from him as he turned. The ground was a good distance away, enough to harm but not to kill. He watched the green earth hurrying to meet him as a crash of thunder rolled across the sky. Balor frowned and held his arms out to either side, signaling for the servants to stay put as the young elf hit the ground on his side. The king winced as he clearly heard his son's arm give a similar cracking sound that the tree had just made. Nuada struggled to sit upright and held onto his arm crying. The king frowned and stepped forward.

"Stand up, Nuada," he demanded firmly. The prince turned and looked at his father pleadingly. The king raised one brow and nodded towards him. "Up, now."

"Father," the prince whimpered holding onto his arm.

"I gave you a command," the king said more sternly. The prince frowned and drew in all the strength and determination he could as he let go of his arm and used his good limb to push himself off the ground and rise. He leaned back against the tree in time for another branch to break free entirely and land fully on his head. The prince cursed softly and rubbed his head with his good hand, favouring the maimed limb by holding it over his chest with sobs. The king shook his head and turned to the servants. "Go and inform the surgeon that the prince and princess will be in need of attention this evening."

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Nuala had felt the break in her brother's arm as soon as it had happened. The queen had opted to give the twins a powerful, magic link when they had been infants and Nuada had begun to develop strange dark markings around his eyes and on his lips. Since the link had been given, the twins had been able to sense one another's emotions, thoughts, and even experience one another's injuries. Aine had hurried the princess into her bedchamber and called for one of the physicians to attend to her while she herself went to the entrance of the palace to wait for her husband and son. Nuala watched in sorrow as her mother swept out of the room and went to go and see to her brother more fully. As the physician examined the girl's arm, she couldn't help but hate her brother all the more for being the center of everyone's focus even absent.

Balor and the prince approached slowly. Aine watched the two walk towards her, the prince clutching his arm tightly as he walked. She shrieked and raced to them, kneeling and scooping the child into her arm in one fluid movement. Balor frowned at the woman as she cradled the elfling and began comforting him as he sobbed in pain. The king narrowed his eyes at this sight. This was why their son was silent and brooding while their daughter did everything she could to torment him. It wasn't the queen's true intention to destroy the boy's masculinity of course; women were, after all, in no control of being overly compassionate towards smaller and more helpless creatures. Still, this had to be brought to an end and soon.

The king sighed and moved past the two as the queen turned and headed towards the prince's bedchamber. Nuada clung to his mother, gratefully breathing in the cedar smell of her sleeve and the clear scent of her hair. Aine fussed over him and carried him as gently as possible. As they passed his sister's room, the prince glanced in and noticed the tears running down her cheeks as well. What did she have to be upset about? She got to spend all day at lessons far less demanding than his, she had no obligation to become a strong warrior or brave leader, and she had every opportunity on earth to bully him. She narrowed her eyes at him. They were crowned by a deeper red than average. The near crimson that graced the eyes and lips of the princess should have been on the prince's features as well had it not been for strange circumstances. He frowned at his sister and shook his head, looking away. He could clearly hear her anger towards him.

_You did this deliberately_, she thought loudly. _You hurt us because you climbed too high and I wouldn't help you down_.

_No, I did not_, the prince thought in reply. _I fell and father let me and besides, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't made a scene at breakfast to begin with_.

_You're pathetic. Father should have left you in the forest where you wouldn't make me miserable_, Nuala hissed inwardly. _I wish I had been born alone_.

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"Wait, you and your sister had a psychic thing? You could read each other's minds and talk without speaking?!" Aidan exclaimed. He laughed and shook his head as the prince turned and narrowed his eyes at the boy. Aidan shifted uncomfortably and leaned toward Leopold. He cleared his throat. "I mean, didn't that make things impossible for you when you wanted to be alone?"

"It made things difficult, young one, not impossible," the elf corrected.

"Can you and mother still hear each other's thoughts like they're out loud?" Leopold asked excitedly. Nuada smiled and nodded. "Can you hear her right now?"

"I'll bet that she's thinking that you're not telling it the way she remembers it," Aine said softly. Nuada turned and smiled down at the girl. Aine blushed and turned away as she grasped a lock of her own hair. "That's what I would think if my brother was telling a story about something that happened to us."

"Then perhaps you and my sister are linked as well," he added with a broad grin. He turned back to Leopold. "She also says that she misses you and that I should continue to keep a sharp eye on you. Now, where was I?" The children stayed silent for a moment as the prince thought about where he had left the plot. He smirked. "Ah, yes . . ."

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Nuada squeezed his eyes closed and sobbed all the louder. Aine gently patted his back as she set him on his bed and stepped back to allow the surgeon to examine him. The surgeon sighed heavily and set the arm so that it would heal properly. Elves could heal rapidly, especially as children, and luckily the break itself seemed to the surgeon to be so miniscule that it would take only the night to reconstruct.

"A hairline," he said, ". . . at best. It will be Painful, but nothing too serious."

"How long will it take him to recover?" Aine asked anxiously as the surgeon reached down to his belt of common remedies that he kept on hand. He pulled a few stems of nightshade from the belt and pressed them into his hand until they were crumbled enough for the prince to swallow. He took a cup of water kept on the boy's nightstand and placed the powder in before offering it to him. "Will he still be able to have use of it in the future?"

"Yes, your majesty," the surgeon replied with a shake of his head. The queen was more anxious than many of the other elf women he tended to or their children. "He will need tonight to restore the arm to a healthy state, but he should be cautious of overusing it for a short while."

"My poor little darling," Aine said as the surgeon moved aside and gave the prince a comforting nod. The queen sat on the edge of the elfling's bed and pulled him into her lap. Nuada relaxed and placed his good arm around her as best he could. She stroked his head and smoothed his hair back as she began to rock back and forth. "What a horrible day you've had."

Thunder shook the sky madly, ripping through the atmosphere as rain started pouring from the sky in a steady, heavy stream. Nuada shuddered and clung all the closer to his mother. He buried his head into her chest and breathed deeply. At least with his mother he had always been safe from both the anger of his sister and disappointing his father. Aine smiled and turned to the window. "Rain is cleansing, Nuada my son. Rain washes away dust from the sky and soil and heartache from every creature that sleeps when it begins to fall."

"Can it heal as well?" the prince asked softly. The queen smiled and leaned forward, gently kissing her son's forehead.

"Rain is very healing, my little one," she replied pulling him more tightly into her embrace. "Go to sleep and put all of this behind you. It has been a long day and you need to rest."

He nodded slowly and sighed. A louder crash of thunder shook the palace. Nuada shuddered and frowned. "The clouds are angry at something."

Aine laughed and pushed a lock of the prince's golden-white hair behind his pale, pointed ear. She stared down into the somber, broken form of her precious child. There was no rhyme or reason to anyone watching as to why the queen favoured her son to her daughter, but Aine and Balor knew well the way most royal families were to be handled. The prince was the apple of his mother's eye while the princess was to be the little darling of the king. This was a little altered in the case of the children of this couple. Firstly, elves rarely had twins and mixed twins were simply unheard of. Secondly, the prince's unusual markings were rumoured to be the result of a strange goblin curse that the queen felt she herself could ward off with avid compassion. Third, Balor's drive to reign over the magical races while facing the growing threat of humanity made him nearly entirely unavailable to the princess at any time. Nuada nearly felt sorry for his sister had he not been the victim at the receiving end of her frustrations.

"The clouds may be angry, but the stars are behind them and with the stars and moon in the sky, anything is possible and all is well," Aine soothed. She laid the prince on his back and set his head against her arm. Nuada wondered if his father and his mother had been given such attention by their mothers. He could hear Nuala in the hallway trying to listen at what was transpiring as Aine began to sing softly, rain falling steadily in the background;  
"_In the sky where moon-beams shine,  
There's a special star of mine.  
When the sun has gone to bed,  
Wondrous things will shine instead._

You are my silver star.  
You are my silver star.

Though the night seems dark to them,  
I can see your silver gleam.  
You will always make me smile,  
Wondrous, sparkling, silver child.

You are my silver star.  
You are my silver star."

Nuala frowned from the hallway and hurried back to her bedchamber. The prince sighed and closed his eyes, trying not to think about the hurt his sister was experiencing that was not related to the fracture in their arms. He knew that there had to be something he could do to end the cruelty and attain his father's approval, he just wasn't sure what. He cleared his mind and concentrated on his mother's sweet voice and the sounds of the storm as he drifted off to sleep. Surely the next day would hold a greater deal of promise for finding the answer to his troubles.


	3. The Silverstar ch2

The prince and princess awoke at nearly the same times during the night, but fell back to sleep with odd dreams beckoning them. In the morning, the twins were exempted from their lessons by their mother and allowed a day to recover and make peace with the small changes they would now experience in their bodies and minds after yet another upset. Nuala said nothing to her brother, scowling at him from a distance as they ate breakfast and then went on to wander in the gardens just outside the palace. The servants had been ordered to keep as close an eye as possible on the two without intervening too greatly. Nuada seemed lost in thought to even his sister who found it particularly hard to decipher her brother's thoughts and feelings despite their link. Nuada wondered to himself about how to end the constant battle with his sister. Why didn't she love him? She seemed to want him dead every moment of every day. He thought repeatedly not only about the solution, but the source of the constant animosity.

_Maybe she envies not being in line for the throne,_ one portion of his mind told him. _Along with that, perhaps she envies the attention that goes along with being the first in line. She's jealous, yes, that must be it. She is selfish and jealous and that feeds a hatred that can only be combated physically_. Nuada had heard many incredible tales of family members in legends thrashing one another to make a point to get along. Perhaps his fighting back once might make her step back. _Yes, all I have to do is just gather the courage I need to_ . . .

"Brother!" Nuala shouted from the other side of the gardens. Nuada shuddered. Her tone was not at all docile and tender. He frowned and began to move towards his sister's voice. The princess stood proudly in front of a large willow oak and stared harshly at her brother as he approached. Nuada frowned and bowed his head to his sister respectfully. "I can hear you thinking, you know."

"I know," he said softly. He folded his arms behind his back and breathed deeply. "What have you to say about it, then? Is that what makes you so angry at me?"

"Being bound to a ridiculous little whelp is what angers me," Nuala continued. Nuada could hear the princess trying to mask the truth with her words and doing her utmost to continue to hide her true feelings and thought from her brother as well. The prince frowned. Unless his sister was thoroughly unconscious or deeply at ease, there would be no knowing the truth anytime soon. She strode past him and smirked. "Besides, it would be foolish of me to be jealous of you ascending the throne in the first place. That's never going to happen."

Nuada froze and stared at his sister in disbelief. "What do you mean?" the elf asked with anger rising in his voice. The throne was the only thing he had to look forward to. No promised romances, magic, or great feats of battle awaited him. The she-elf smiled brightly and began walking calmly among the trees, gazing up at their branches with feigned contentment.

"Well, if I understand correctly from listening in on your lessons, the future king must first attain a warrior title and train with the regiments. You can barely lift a branch that's half the weight of your finger," his sister chided. The prince frowned. His sister had insulted him on a number of levels, but never on this subject. It was well known around the palace that the prince was having trouble gathering strength and discovering his title. Nuala smiled wickedly at her brother. "You'll be lucky if you're allowed to wait on mother as a maidservant."

"That's a lie," Nuada hissed. The girl smiled and began sauntering away in the other direction. He growled and felt an odd, heated sensation rising through him at having his strength so challenged. This had never happened before, and it felt as though he needed to end it immediately before it could happen again. The girl ignored him and began circling one smaller tree. "Apologize, Nuala. That was a wicked thing to say."

"I'm not apologizing to you, weakling," the she elf replied. A glint of the fact that holding this new power over him made her pleased served to affirm the young prince's advanced theory that the girl was envious of his future position and current attention. He growled softly. He hadn't asked for any of it, what right did she have to hate him for it? "You should go back inside before you fall and hurt us again."

"Apologize to me, Nuala, for saying that," he demanded again. The prince was entirely confused and feeling as though his entire centre, his heart, were about to burst out of him. Nuala grinned and stood in front of him with arms folded tightly.

"Make me, prince no-title," she chided.

Nuada shouted angrily, unable to control himself any longer. He flew forward, throwing fist after fist and open hands into his sister. Nuala shrieked and fell to the ground as her brother attacked. Hearing the shrieks from the prince and princess, servants came running to see about the commotion. Every servant that arrived covered their mouths and froze in horror at the sight of the prince attacking his sister and screaming 'take it back'. After a moment, the small crowd of servants raced forward and began to try and pry both apart. Nuada breathed deeply, sweat and blood dripping from his face and the marks he sported that had been left on his sister. He stared hatefully into her timid yellow eyes as she panted and stared back. The servants lifted her from the ground as the two continued to stare at one another.

"I'll do it again," Nuada whispered. Nuala's eyes widened in shock and fear at her brother's words and the determination in his eyes. He narrowed them at her and spoke more loudly. "I'll do it again, Nuala. I mean it. If you hurt me anymore, I'll hurt you back; I'll hurt you _**more**_."

Nuala closed her eyes and brought her hands over her battered face as she began weeping. Nuada, for the first time in his childhood, simply watched the servants cart his sister away as he was taken in the other direction. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but he did not sob or weep. He felt more powerful than he had ever felt in his life. The servants fussed and spoke quietly to one another as they hurried the prince back inside and sent for one of the physicians. Aine came racing into the room before the physician, shrieking at the top of her lungs as she scooped the boy into her arms.

"Oh! My baby! My sweet little baby!" she cried as she pulled him to her tightly. Nuada breathed heavily and closed his eyes, taking in the comfort of his mother. The door at the far end of the room burst open as the king came storming in. Aine turned to him for a moment, frowning.

"Aine, put the boy down," Balor said firmly. Nuada shuddered at the sound of the old king's voice. He had never truly faced his father's wrath, but he had seen other members of the court tremble before him. Aine tightened her grip on the boy and stepped away, glaring at her husband. "Aine, Nuala needs you. Go and see to her."

"Balor, I . . ." Aine began in a tone with matching sternness. This time Nuada felt his mother's grip loosen. She frowned at her husband. "He's only a child, Balor."

"I am aware of the ages of both of our children," the king replied angrily. Aine sighed and set Nuada on the ground gently stroking his head. Balor growled more loudly, standing over the child. Aine frowned and bowed her head respectfully. The last thing she wanted to do was add to the boy's punishment or humiliation by making Balor even more angered. She left the room quickly, silently beginning to sob. Nuada held his hands behind him sheepishly and looked up at his father in terrified anticipation. "Nuada, did you strike your sister?"

The elfling thought carefully about his reply. "Repeatedly, father," he replied as proudly as he could. If he was going to be in trouble for what the girl deserved, then at least he would speak his mind. Balor shot him a look and strode to a chair in the corner of the room. The boy watched him take a seat fluidly and then raise a hand, gesturing for the boy to come and join him. He nodded and moved to stand in front of his father, hiding his trembling as best he could. "I am aware of the severity of my actions."

"Are you, now?" the king mused. He placed a hand on his knee and stared at the boy as silently as he could for several minutes. He could no longer contain himself after a brief silence and began laughing. He slapped his knee and leaned forward. "Well done, my boy! How absolutely incredible! Your fury in righteous anger was so focused! You have made me so proud, Nuada. Well done!"

"But father, I . . ." the prince protested in confusion. Was his father congratulating him on thrashing his twin sister? He shifted uncomfortably as his father gestured for him to come even closer. What was the king playing at? He stepped to standing immediately in front of the king, his eyes cautiously fixed on him.

"Now, of course you understand that the wounds you inflicted were wrong, but the end result will be marvelous," the king said as he pulled the boy onto his lap. He pulled a few strands of white gold hair away from his child's face. "You have sent a powerful message to her and now she will admire and admonish your strength. Not to mention that she will finally begin to focus herself on perfecting the finer points of her feminine nature rather than looking for trouble."

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"Your father was _glad_ you hit your sister?!" Aidan cried. He began laughing as Nuada shook his head and turned to face Aine' more fully.

"My father was often mistaken about situations involving my sister and this was no exception," the prince replied firmly. Aine' sighed and looked down then towards her brother. "Father did not recognize the true source of my sister's wrath and probably never would have had I not discovered my title simultaneously in discovering why she hated me."

"How did that happen?" Aidan asked with excitement. Nuada frowned and turned toward Leopold and Aidan with the same remorse he had shown his sister. Aidan scooted back a pace at the prince's expression.

"More importantly, what was wrong with mother?" Leopold asked softly.

Nuada shook his head and turned back to Aine', seeing a similar circumstance with the half-demons. "She was very unhappy, nephew," he explained. "And she felt entirely alone in it."


	4. The Silverstar ch3

Chapter 3:

Nuala's thoughts were sealed away safely from her brother all afternoon and all night. Nuada tried time and time again to listen carefully to simply his sister's heartbeat. Nuala refused, carefully keeping everything she could from her twin so that even her sobs were kept silent. Nuada felt awful for not only harming his sister, but being so alone at the moment. He had never felt so isolated before in all his life. He dared not ask his mother or father about it. Neither of the twins knew whether or not their parents knew about the special link between them that surpassed the physical ailments they shared and neither was ready to find out.

The prince slipped sadly into bed that night saying nearly nothing to his mother as she told him yet another story. Nuada half listened as he drifted into a dark void instead of a sound sleep. He could make out the faint traces of Nuala's heartbeat which served as a slight comfort, but did not take away the sharp repeating anxiousness that filled him in the absence of his sister's thoughts and feelings. After several hours of wondering through the void, he mercifully awoke. It was still dark and quite early. None of the servants had awakened and come to attend to him yet. He sighed heavily and dressed himself as quickly as he could while heading towards his sister's room. He still could not make out any sounds, thoughts, or feelings. He had never been able to hide himself from her like this; what was her secret?

The prince carefully and quietly opened the door to his sister's room as he crept towards the bed. He swallowed hard and climbed up on the enormous bed and glanced around. The still, silent form lying several inches away did not seem right to the prince. He frowned and reached out to gently shake what should have been his sister's shoulder. He gasped as he withdrew his hand from a stack of pillows laid in the middle of the bed. Where on earth was Nuala? He leapt off the bed as quickly as being silent would allow and headed for the doorway. There were still no sounds of servants or other palace denizens awake and ready to begin the day. He closed his eyes and begged his sister to answer him with a word, a thought, anything.

The faint heartbeat he had been sensing suddenly grew into thunder. He shuddered and ducked behind a nearby end table instinctively and looked towards the ceiling as the noise should have passed. A mere few seconds later the prince realized that this was not thunder. He gasped and stood slowly.

_Nuala, _he cried out in his mind. _Nuala, where are you? What is happening?!_

_Help! Help!_ Nuala shrieked in her own mind. _Please, brother, do something!_

_Where are you, sister?_ the prince asked frantically. _Please, tell me where you are!_

The only reply to the young elf was the sound of his sister's heartbeat continuing to thunder ominously as she began sobbing. Nuada began sobbing loudly himself. He reached up to wipe the tears away from his eyes and suddenly noticed the line of a lingering scar, a cut that he and his sister had suffered at his hand the day before. He frowned. He had done a great deal of harm to his sister. Retaliation or not, he was a monster until he made things right. Still trembling, the elf rose to his feet and allowed sheer emotion to drive him towards the entrance to the palace. He passed a good number of guards that were unable to get a good hold on him, but would no doubt quickly alert his parents. He breathed deeply and ran blindly towards the sound of his sister's sobbing and heart still resounding in his pale, pointed ears.

It was a little past sunrise when the prince's breath gave out and he toppled forward down a hillside. Several rocks bruised the sides of his head and cut his arms and legs as he fell. Nuada cried out as he fell into a heap at the base of the hill, curling into a tight ball as pain and exhaustion overtook him. What had he been thinking? He had barely begun any training as a warrior and he had been badly wounded the day before. He should have known better than to go wandering off into the countryside! He should have gone and alerted his father and mother right away instead of barreling off like a fool! He began sobbing as loudly as his sister and felt her recognize his wounds as her own. He apologized as much as he could while trying not to think about dying here in the middle of nowhere away from family and the court.

"Hello, there, little elf!" a gruff voice called from a short distance away. Nuada looked up in shock at the sight of a goblin standing over him. He shrieked and scooted backwards until his rump collided with a rock. The goblin snickered as the elf began to cry all the louder. "Here, now, there's no need for a fuss. Come along and my family will get you cleaned up."

Before the prince could reply; the stocky, green creature hoisted the prince into his arms, grasping him under both arms as he began walking towards the caravan that he called home. The prince had heard of certain goblins living for travel in order to sell their weaponry to the other races. He wondered if this was one of the troops that the court and his father's forces purchased from. It was difficult for the elf to make out his surroundings through the bright pain in his head and the excitement still trying to pulse its way out of his chest. He remembered dull colours; greens, browns, dull gold, dark blue, and midnight lavenders, as well as the scents of metals, fire, and ash. His eyes came into focus as he felt himself set down on a flat wooden surface some distance above the ground.

"Fionna! Fionna!" the goblin called. Nuada turned his head to see what, or whom, the goblin was calling. He realized that he was now sitting on the topmost entrance step and platform before the door of one of the caravans. They looked to the prince like odd painted wooden barrels on wheels. The round door on the caravan opened and a scent of worn cedar and ginger met the prince. He felt warmed at the scent and mesmerized before the sight of Fionna met him. Fionna was not a goblin maiden, not at all. What she was doing with the goblin clan was perplexing to the prince, but he felt it best not to say anything to seem ungrateful or pryful. Fionna was a young human; older than he and his sister, but still quite young. The only reason Nuada could clearly tell that she was human was that the shape of her round ears protruded ever so slightly from beneath her hair. Her hair was brilliant red that came to dark ends at her back and shoulders and her eyes were a blue that Nuada had only seen on the clearest of winter days. She wore pale blue in a similar style to his mother's common robes with a dark brown cloak around her for warmth. Her skin appeared nearly as pale as his own in contrast to the cloak. He turned his head away as soon as she knelt beside him, nodding to the goblin that had summoned her. "Look after him. Clean him up and get him calmed. I think he might be royalty."

"Yes, father," the girl replied. Nuada felt a breeze move past with her voice. It was like the softest pluck of the most beautiful harp. This must have been a dream. He closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts as the girl took him gently onto her small lap. Nuada wondered how he had fit, but did not fight or complain as she laid a hand over his cheek and began to chant softly. Confusion filled the prince's mind. Goblins didn't have healing rituals, did they? He shook his head for a moment, causing the pseudo-goblin maid to remove her hand from his cheek and placed it tenderly on the top of his head. Nuada suddenly realized that the pain in every wound had ceased as well as the pounding of his heart. He drew in a sigh of relief as Fionna gasped. "Your sister is in terrible danger."

Nuada gasped and looked up at the girl in shock. He nodded slowly, feeling the urgency of his sister's plight returning as his heart began racing. He frowned and thought of something to say or do, something to explain his situation and ask for help.

"What's that, now?" the goblin asked as he returned to the two.

"His sister is under attack somehow, father," the girl explained. The goblin cocked his head to one side as the girl continued. "Perhaps we might be able to give him a blade."

"Aye!" the goblin exclaimed with amusement. "A little one like that should be just beginnin' to choose the cut of his blade. Come, now, elfling and find one you'd like. Our trade is good enough to sacrifice a sword or two."

Nuada tried to think of something to say in reply as the goblin took him by the back of his tunic and firmly took him over to a blanket laid out on the ground. Of course the goblin meant no harm in the gesture, but the prince was sure he had never been so roughly handled in all his life as the creature set him down in front of the blanket. On the blanket were arrays of various weapons of all shapes, sizes, metals, and meant for several levels of skill. Nuada felt overwhelmed at the sight of these and was almost distracted from his sister in the glint of each. They were marvelous to look at, sparkling and menacing all at once. The prince knelt and softly touched the hilt of a small sword made entirely of gold.

_Nuada! _Nuala called frantically from her spirit. _Hurry, brother! Help me!_

"Sister," the prince whispered aloud. The goblin standing behind him scratched his head in confusion. Nuada plastered a stern expression on his face and knelt quickly to retrieve the golden sword. The goblin laughed and gave the prince a firm, approving smack on the shoulder. Nuada reeled forward a moment both from the smack and from the size of the sword. He groaned under the weight of the blade as the racing pulse of his sister returned to his mind. He could feel no wounds from her, but she was most certainly in danger. He looked up at the goblin gratefully as the creature stared back in amusement. He hoisted the sword to his side. "If it's all just as well, sir, I will accept your offer and take this sword."

"Rather a heavy burden for a lad your stature, but it'll suit your purposes, elfling," the goblin replied with a wink.

"But father," Fionna interjected as she joined the three. Nuada ignored any further conversation and headed out in the direction of his sister's plea once more. Fionna watched and frowned. "That sword will not arise for him in the heat of battle. It's gold, forged by a coward with his heart set on coins and without valor."

"Elves are natural warriors, lass," the goblin countered as they watched the small form of the prince dart away still laboriously carting the sword beside him. He stumbled every three steps and rose immediately. The goblin smirked and turned to his daughter. "Then again, maybe you should head after him."

* * *

"Did you know that the blade was for a coward?" Leopold asked in confusion. His uncle smirked and shook his head. "But your eyes are set on weapons now, you wouldn't dream of heading off to a rescue without a proper blade."

"I was not as mindful then as I am now. Besides, my sister was in peril and I would have done anything to ensure her safety," Nuada explained. Aine watched his face intently. "Your mother might have done a number of things to make me angry or hurt, but she knew better than to cry wolf."

"Did you have any idea what was harming her or where she was?" Aidan asked in confusion.

"No, and she was too distressed to tell me," Nuada added.

"Then how did you find her?" Aine asked urgently. "What was attacking her?"

"I will get there if there are no further interruptions," the prince said with a smile. The three became silent and stared back at their caretaker intently. "Now, let's see. The golden sword was in my possession and I was fully focused on reaching my sister. Ah yes, that's when I came upon _them_."

-----------------

_Happy Christmas, everyone!_


	5. The Silverstar ch4

**Chapter 4**

"It was unusual for me to come across a band of brigands like this not simply because it was comprised of three trolls and an elf a few years younger than father, but because all they were doing was standing at the base of the tree where my sister clung to its uppermost branches, chiding her," the prince explained. "It still puzzles me why they would spend a better part of the day mocking an elfling they intended to capture."

Leopold furrowed his brow in confusion and turned to Aidan for some kind of response. Aidan shrugged in confusion and turned his gaze quickly back to their guardian. Aine had remained absolutely still and silent for the past few moments and had barely changed her expression at the prince's words.

"Were they going to kill her?" Aidan finally asked after a brief silence.

"Killing her would have had no profit for them, they were likely going to hold her for a ransom of some kind," Leopold said. The voice of his father was beginning to make itself clear in the boy's personality.

Nuada smiled. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall the events in a more suspenseful and exaggerated way.

* * *

"Nuala!" the prince shouted as he felt himself come to rest a hair's breadth from her pounding heart. He stood near the start of a large oak forest where a band of odd brigands stood at the base of a particularly strong and sturdy old oak tree. Nuala looked terrified and exhausted while the brigands looked as though they had been having the time of their insignificant lives all morning. Nuada shouted angrily and tried to raise the sword above his head that he had been dragging for some time. The band consisted of a very large cave troll, a set of two more mountain trolls (a little smaller than the first), and what looked like an elf. The elf was the only creature to notice the prince as he stood ready to defend his sister. He reached out and smacked the nearest troll on the head then pointed to the boy. The troll growled and rubbed his head before turning and alerting the others to do the same. In a moment, all eyes were affixed on the elfling and laughter was beginning to fill the air. Nuada felt his blood starting to boil in the same manner it had when Nuala had taunted him. He raised the sword as much as he cold, barely bringing the blade off the ground. "I am Prince Nuada, son of King Balor, and I order you to cease your tormenting of my sister and leave this place at once!"

The group laughed more heartily. The elf looked toward his troll companion and nodded to him, a signal the troll had seen many times. It stepped away from the tree and lumbered towards the prince, reaching an enormous hand down. Nuada gasped and froze as the troll swept him up in a single hand. He dangled from the oaf's grasp by his collar, kicking furiously and still trying to keep hold of the sword. The elf rogue moved forward and casually swept the sword out of the prince's hands. He seemed to be a little surprised by the weight alone and gave the prince a look of approval before turning to walk away. Nuada growled and shouted in frustration, trying now to strike his captor firmly on the shoulder or any other available target.

"Balor's son, eh? Heir to the throne of Elfland. And this is your sister?" the elf asked with a sneer. He strode back over to the tree with the sword in hand. He tossed the gilded blade to another troll and reached up for the nearest branch. Nuada stopped moving and watched in shock as the elf swiftly scaled the branches beneath Nuala and swept her into his arms. She shrieked and fought furiously with him as he gracefully leapt out of the boughs and onto the ground. He smirked as Nuala began to look more and more frantic; so frantic that, rather than continue to fight with her captor, she began to weep uncontrollably. The elf laughed and held onto her tightly as if holding some sort of prize winning livestock. Nuada felt sorrow of his own beginning to overwhelm him. The first real test of his courage and skill, rescuing his sister, and he was completely without the ability. "Don't cry, princess, I am sure your father and mother are looking for you."

The elf held Nuala out to one of the mountain trolls who accepted her just as carefully. "They'll do anything to get their daughter back," the troll said with an oily smile. "You'll fetch a handsome price from your parents at the very least."

"The fairies would pay a greater price for the princess, Keln," the other troll added excitedly as he addressed the elf. Keln nodded and then looked toward Nuada. The trolls turned and stared at the dangling prince with cruel joy. "Not to mention their king would pay the whole of his treasury for the prince."

"Yes, Oberon has wanted to get his hands on the royal line for some time," the elf mused as he walked back towards Nuada still hanging in the troll's grasp. He reached out and placed a hand under the elf-child's chin and looked him over. Nuada snarled and reared back, biting him firmly on his hand right between the thumb and forefinger. The elf cried out in pain and anger. Blood began to course rapidly from the wound. Keln looked back at the dark tinted prince with fury, a small stain of blood still near the prince's black lips. "You miserable little pipsqueak! I'll sell your remains to a djinn!"

The troll grunted and shook Nuada, giving the reprimand that his master was unable to deal out for the moment. Keln tore a piece of cloth free from the base of his tunic and wrapped it furiously around his hand. Nuada smiled inwardly at this small victory. Damage was damage and he did not intend to feel defeated in the face of having dealt at least a small amount of it to an enemy. Keln withdrew a dagger and headed back to the troll holding Nuala. Neither knew whether or not he would do any harm to them if he intended to sell them (as it seemed was the case) to an enemy of the throne, but Nuada knew that no one drew a dagger without the intent to use it. Panic gripped the prince and he felt more helpless than ever.

"Your highness!" said a voice from a short distance away. While the trolls looked around to see what could have been calling out to the royal pair, or rather one of the set in particular, the three elves in the clearing grew silent and turned to face the sound at once. Nuada's eyes widened in recognizing Fionna. She held a strange spear in her hands, tipped with a silver blade that was etched with the words 'spare no abomination, destroy no innocent' in the goblin tongue. Nuada was mildly familiar with the writings as they appeared on all the weaponry and metal craft that was present in the palace. She breathed deeply and hoisted the weapon horizontally over her heart. "Catch!"


	6. The Silverstar ch5

**Chapter 5**

Before the cave troll could react, Nuada held out both small arms and anticipated the weapon's arrival. It slid perfectly into his waiting hands as if seeking a companion. The hilt settled comfortably and Nuada was sure that this weapon, although quite a bit larger than he, was crafted for him and him alone. He thought quickly about how to get free of his captor first. He smiled and thrust the heavy, bladeless end of the spear into the troll's abdomen below its ribs. It grunted, losing its breath and its grip on Nuada momentarily. The prince tumbled to the ground, but found his footing under the balance of the blade in a flash. He suddenly felt power moving through him; power and clarity both. He turned to the cave troll once more and spun the spear around his shoulders before slamming the sharp end into the troll's leg near its ankle. He withdrew it quickly, making sure not to lose hold on his new tool. The troll howled in pain and fell backwards, nursing the wound pitifully. Trolls generally sustained massive wounds proudly and treated the superficial as though fatal. Nuada sprinted forward and, in an amazing flash, leapt into the air over the troll, thumping the back of the brute's head with the butt of the spear as he landed a few feet from the other brigands. The troll fell backwards with the blow to his head and remained nearly stunned past consciousness. Keln frowned as Nuada held the spear out in front of him and dared them to move forward. Keln glared at him.

"Give her to me," he ordered. The troll holding Nuala placed her back in Keln's arms harshly. "Take him." Keln gestured toward Nuada with his head, keeping his eyes fixed angrily on the prince as the two sauntered past and growled at the prince.

Nuada held the spear across his chest as Fionna had done. He watched in amazement as its length began to extend. It was as long as two of him in height. He lowered himself to the ground and raced forward, clipping both trolls with either end of it at the shin. The trolls toppled forward onto the ground. Nuada planted the blade into the back thigh of the one and then the other, watching them struggle to try and stand with a small measure of satisfaction. Keln took another step away as Nuada leapt once, twirling head over heels in the air, and landed between the heads of the trolls. The prince seemed to be taking to martial combat like a fish to water. Nuada felt more than power, now; he felt free. Quickly, he thrust the butt of the weapon into the one troll's skull and then the other, rendering them as helpless as their companion. He turned back to Keln, who was glaring at the miniature royal with irritation. Keln had clearly picked three of the most brutish and most oafish of any trolls in existence and, at the sight of all three unconscious on the ground with flesh wounds, regretted the decision. The prince held the spear out with its blade facing Keln. The elf rogue seemed to be formulating a new plan that did not involve kidnapping. Clearly he relied on the strength of the trolls to make up for what he lacked, which was a great deal.

"Release my sister," the prince demanded slowly and calmly.

Keln smirked and carefully set the she-elf on the ground. The prince detected a look of admiration and amusement in the rogue's eyes. Keln stepped sideways away from the prince and princess toward the cave troll still on the ground. "It appears we'll have to do business at a later date with your majesties," Keln said. He placed a hand on one of the troll's quills running along its back, grasping it while mouthing a spell. In a blink, the form of the troll disappeared. Nuada stared at him in confusion. The prince had been able to best the trolls because of their vapid intellect, but Keln just might have been able to overtake the twins despite the prince's new spear. Keln simply continued to smile as he cast the same spell on the other two trolls and stared at the siblings in what could have been considered a sort of fondness. Once all three trolls were gone, he raised a hand to his chest, bowing once. "Pardon our disturbance if it interfered with your obligations. You understand, yes? As one warrior to another, valor is good but funds fuel battles."

Nuada noticed a strange insignia on the rogue's tunic over his right sleeve. It looked very much like one of the symbols on their father's belts, one used when addressing the royal guard and ranks at a formal dispatch. Was this elf some soldier that had strayed into a life of criminal wandering? The prince shook his head as Nuala moved beside him. "If we meet again, your pardon will be expired," the prince warned. He liked this new persona he had found. He was truly trembling and uncertain, but the outward façade made it hardly noticeable.

Keln laughed once more. "I believe I was as proud when I found my title," he remarked. Nuada gave him a look of thorough confusion and disbelief while Keln simply smiled approvingly. "I recognize that look, the first handling of the weapon that's truly yours. A word of advice for the rest of your career as a diligent servant of the king's army; your greatest weapon will be neither sword, nor spear, nor dagger. It will be the inability to yield."

"I'll take that under consideration," Nuada replied, feeling very grown up indeed for the time being.

Keln smiled, nodded once, and then walked back to the pair. Nuada stood in front of Nuala protectively, holding his spear at the ready. Fionna moved forward, stepping behind the twins with concern. Keln neared them, but then veered to the side, retrieving the gold sword that the troll had dropped. He picked it up and admired it for a moment. He tossed it back to the forest floor and looked at Fionna. "Pity, most goblin weapons are useful."

Fionna frowned at him as he turned and disappeared into the forest to join the trolls. After a moment had passed, the two faced one another. Fionna watched as an awkward silence lingered between them. It lasted briefly when Nuala began weeping once again and threw her arms around her brother, squeezing him gratefully. Fionna smiled and took a step backward.

"Brother, you saved me!" she cried happily. "You were amazing!"

Nuada grasped his sister tightly and thanked the powers around him over and over again for this triumph. The pair embraced one another for a few moments before turning to Fionna. Nuada introduced the goblin-maiden and his sister as they started back out of the forest. Fionna told them that her family's caravan was not far away and that the two would be gladly given a comfortable ride back to the palace of their family. Nuala grasped her brother's hand as they walked while Nuada clutched the spear like an old friend. What an incredible feeling, what a magnificent craft. He thought to himself about the title he should have found, playing each scene from the battle over and over in his mind. Nuala turned to him with a curious gaze as they climbed into the back of one of the goblin wagons. She could sense her brother's query with their link as well as her unusual gift of insight. She furrowed her brow.

"The golden sword was my first choice for a weapon," Nuada said aloud. "But that was not what gave me my first victory."

"It was the spear, then. Silverspear should be the title for you," Nuala offered.

"That's not a spear, it's a lance. It's been enchanted to lessen in length to act as a spear, but it is truly a lance," Fionna corrected. She had remained silent while sitting in the back of the wagon with the two up until this point. Nuada looked at her and smiled brightly. "It should be Silverlance."

"Silverlance," the prince repeated as he examined the spear head happily. "Spare no abomination, destroy no innocent. Is that a part of a goblin creed?"

Fionna smiled, impressed that the prince had been able to decipher the markings. She pointed to the other side of the spear head. Nuada turned it over. Written now was another phrase; 'better to burn than to fade away'.

"Those are parts of the creed of the king's army," Nuala remarked as Nuada read the words aloud. The two turned to the princess in shock. Nuala smiled. "Don't look so surprised. Even when you weren't paying attention to your lessons, I was."

"The king's creed appears on the blade as it is called for. The situation at hand determines the verse etched," Fionna explained. Nuada grinned even brighter. "It is part of the magic. That lance is positively heavy with magic."

"We've arrived, your majesties," the goblin said as he appeared at the back of the wagon. The three turned to him as he held out his hands for the two to take. "Come along, they're not likely to let us through the gate if a search is on for the two of you."

The goblin was right, of course. The guards had been told by Balor via the Chamberlain not to permit entrance to anyone and to detain anyone who asked for permission to enter until the prince and princess had been found. The goblin smith brought the two to the front of the procession and assured the guards that the two had not been kidnapped by goblins. Nuada and Nuala asserted that the goblin was being truthful and that he and his clan had helped the two escape a band of thieves. Not more than five minutes had passed before Aine and Balor, followed closely by many members of the court, appeared at the gate. Aine took both children into her arms, sobbing gratefully for their return as Balor thanked the goblins for their service. Nuada held to his mother tightly and felt a great relief washing over him as his mother's attention turned to focus on Nuala for a change. While the queen looked the girl over for wounds and fussed over her reddened eyes, the king noted the spear still clasped in the hands of his son. He smiled.

"I see you were able to assist in your own rescue," he mused.

"I needed no rescuing," Nuada replied proudly. Balor lifted a brow inquisitively.

"It is true, your highness, he was the one rescuing his sister. We merely provided the weapon and transportation," Fionna added.

Balor turned back to Nuada with a beam of pride streaming brightly from both eyes to the boy's face. The prince took in every moment of this rare joy. The king folded his arms behind him and looked down at the small elf with all seriousness now on his face. "Then by what title should the armies and the court now address you?" he asked, eager to hear his son's warrior epithet.

The prince straightened himself and cleared his throat. "I am Prince Nuada Silverlance, son of King Balor," he declared proudly. He turned and looked at Nuala who stared back in both admiration and gratitude. He smiled back. "Heir to the throne of Bethmoora."

Aine, who still held tightly to her daughter, stood beside her husband and gazed with pride at their son. Balor did the same, inwardly thanking the gods for the boy having found his calling before more time had passed and allowed any further resentment to build for his family and people. The royal family was more than grateful to the goblins that had returned their children and asked the caravan to stay as guests for at least three days to receive a more full appreciation from the queen and king. The night was filled with joy and merriment throughout the kingdom, but Nuada and Nuala felt a little more subdued. After having been put to bed, the two crept quietly into the larger hall that joined their quarters. They embraced tightly once more.

"I didn't mean what I said, sister," Nuada said softly. "I swear I will never harm you again."

"I am sorry for all the trouble I've caused, brother," Nuala said as she withdrew herself and looked down shamefully. "If it hadn't been for my anger, none of that would have ever happened."

"Then I might never have found my title," the prince added.

Nuala smiled at him and looked out one of the nearby windows. The drapes trailing around the window frame fluttered ever so slightly in the night breeze that was keeping its vigil through the hallways. "Do you think that we will never need to argue again? It's different than a fight, but it's just as painful if you use the wrong weapons."

Nuada reached out and took his sister's hand firmly. "It shouldn't matter, I think we know each other a little better now and that makes it easier to argue safely," he said. He had heard his mother say it to their father one night some time ago when they thought that both their children were asleep. "Besides, I'll be more busy now with training to lead our people and the king's forces." Saying so made the prince a little anxious. He had grown accustomed to the idea that it would one day come to pass, but he didn't exactly relish the thought of being a servant to the entire kingdom whether it meant a position of power or not. Nuala knew this, as did their parents, and she felt an ache for him. He had gained a title and the respect of much of the kingdom, but in a sense he had lost what was to be left of his childhood.

Nuala swung the hand clasped to her brother's back and forth as they stood. She grinned and continued to look at her twin with satisfaction. "No matter what happens, I love you," she said tenderly.

The prince felt warmth move over him at sensing how genuine her kindness towards him was. What pleased him all the more was thinking that this would increase day by day as they grew more and more as prince and princess fulfilling their purpose and less as a pair of children vying for their parents' attention and approval. Truthfully, Nuala had always loved him, but now she could be free to show it without the burden of jealousy. "I love you, also," he replied. The two embraced once more, this time fully aware of the changes manifesting in one another and no longer frightened of them.

* * *

"That was it?" Aidan asked in confusion. "You just stopped fighting after that?"

"I cannot bring to memory a time after that incident where we fought," Nuada replied with a fond smile. He turned to Leopold. "Then again, your mother might just be better at recalling what has and hasn't happened between us."

Leopold smiled brightly. Aine' looked at the prince with concern. "Then what should we do? Neither of us needs to find a title and we're not royalty," she argued.

The prince rose slowly, setting the half-demon on the ground as the other two stood as well. "Perhaps not, but that does not mean that neither of you have a purpose. It was the focus on our duties that led us to see past our jealousy and anger, not the scuffle we had with the band of thieves. You must simply listen to your calling from the earth," he replied. "Now, it is time all of you were in bed."

The trio made no argument as they left the drawing room and headed to their respective rooms. Each pondering something different as sleep came for them. Aidan thought about the idea his purpose might be to become a defender like his father not dissimilar to the purpose Prince Nuada had discovered. Aine' wondered if her purpose had more to do with her gifts or whether it would be more determined by her family. Leopold wondered at first what his uncle had left out of the story that his mother might have added and then began to wonder if the same purpose that belonged to his uncle was his as well. Nuada allowed his mind to drift as he fell asleep beside Titania, his wife. She was unaware of much of his childhood happenings and he rather preferred that. As the prince felt the peace of the darkened sky wrapping him in a coverlet of dreams, he heard the voice of his sister. He could hear laughter in her voice as she spoke.

"Well remembered, brother," she mused. "Shame you left out the part of the story where you couldn't get a proper hold on the lance and kept toppling over to one side as you tried to best those trolls."

"An unnecessary detail," he replied silently. "Besides, memories, like siblings, are relative."

---------------------The End of Story#1--------------------------


	7. Introduction Story 2

**Story # 2: The Princess and The Salmon of Secrets**

**Introduction:**

"If you keep jumping around then they'll keep swimming away!" Leopold shouted to Aidan. The half demon turned and frowned at his best friend and pseudo-cousin. Leopold shook his head and turned his attention back to the large stream flowing through the moor near his uncle's palace. Leopold and the twins, Aidan and Aine', had waited patiently for the full moon for three whole days in order to capture a legendary fish of knowledge. Leopold gazed deeply at the crystal surface of the water reflecting in the moonlight. Aine' moved closer to the sea elf and stared down into the water as well. She sighed and frowned. "Maybe the Salmon of Secrets lives in another stream."

"But I heard that your mother spent days by this stream until she caught the salmon," Aine' corrected. She turned to look at her brother. "Didn't she?"

"It was one of the things I overheard when I was eavesdropping on them a few months ago. I heard her say that she only had him for a day or so afterward." Aidan stepped closer to the stream's shore and began kicking the pebbles lying in the stream's bed. He heaved a sigh and mindlessly paced back and forth a little as he continued. "She said that the stream has to be lit by the full moon and then he'll start singing a magic song."

"Do you remember how the song went?" Leopold asked with curiosity and hope renewed. Aine' perked up as well. Both waited a beat as Aidan stopped moving and looked at them sadly.

"I can't remember, but it's supposed to be the only thing you hear when he approaches," Aidan said with a shrug. He sighed. "I think it rhymed or something."

"_Oh me, oh my, oh me, oh my, What a clever fish am I! I swim beneath the full moon sky! I know the who, when, where, and why! And never caught, I'll never die! Oh what a clever fish am I_!" a familiar voice recited from a short distance away. The trio gasped and looked around. The sound led Leopold's sensitive ears to the large Bay tree on the shore not far from Aidan. They turned and watched as Prince Nuada, king of the magical realm and Leopold's uncle, stepped out from behind the tree and grinned at them. "My sister was sure that the salmon would negate any need for her to continue at her lessons."

"But that didn't happen; the salmon never granted her the knowledge that she wanted," Aidan quickly added.

Nuada reached out a hand to the half-demon. As Aidan accepted the prince's hand, he was pulled onto the shore. He motioned for his nephew and Aine' to come and do the same. Once all three were on the shore he appraised their current state in a few brief glances. "No, she couldn't bring herself to take the knowledge from the salmon," he replied slowly.

"Why? What was so difficult about getting the salmon's knowledge?" Aine' asked.

"It would have required theft," Nuada said plainly.

"That doesn't seem so hard," Aidan interjected. The other three looked at him in shock. He blushed and looked away. "I mean, that doesn't seem so bad."

"Normally a theft merely requires a physical taking that would be both easy and not terribly harmful," Nuada continued. He gestured for the trio of friends to follow him as he moved back to where he had been waiting behind the tree. They followed and joined him as he sat down on the ground gracefully. "However, this theft would have required the taking of something much more difficult and most definitely wrong in her eyes . . . the taking of a life."

The three gasped in horror. Although the idea of eating fish was not foreign to the twins, the thought of actually killing something was troubling. Leopold scooted more closely to his uncle. He recognized the tone, smile, and glow in the elf's eyes; it was time for a story from the past. The twins scooted in closer as well though more from the chill of the night rather than expecting another exciting installment in the history of the prince and princess. Nuada breathed deeply and glanced up at the sky, trying to think about where best to begin.

"Let me think . . . ah, yes," he said as the memories flooded back to him, primarily from Nuala's mind. He smiled. "I believe it started on a night much like this and near this particular stream."

"How had you found out about the salmon itself?" Aine' asked.

"We hadn't found out about the salmon quite yet when it had began," Nuada replied.

"Then what were you doing out at the stream in the middle of the night?" Leopold asked more curious than ever.

"We were casting a spell," the prince replied. A fond smile formed on the prince's features as he remembered the night and a few things that followed. "We were casting a very difficult spell at that. We wanted more than anything to conjure a snowstorm in the middle of summer and had no idea what kind of toll it would take."

"Then the spell worked?" Aine' asked.

"In one right it worked, the snowstorm did come . . . eventually," Nuada answered. He placed an arm around Leopold tenderly. "It just did not work the way we wanted it to. Then again, neither did the whole concept of capturing the salmon."


	8. Princess and the Salmon ch1

**Chapter 1:**

"Alright, now I think the book said something about dropping three of the crystals into the water right where the center of the moon's image touches its surface," Nuada said glancing at the water. He turned and sighed heavily toward Nuala. "Why didn't you think to bring the book with you?"

"I can remember everything just fine, thank you," she corrected. The she elf heard a distant rumble of thunder and the nearing of a storm. Nuala groaned, staring harshly at her brother. She shook her head and opened the heavy cloth around the magical phial holding the 'heavenly ice crystals' that the spell had called for. She huffed impatiently as she tried to pull the special cork free of the phial. "Anyways there's no way to tell where the center of the moon's image anyway, you twit, it moves as we do."

"I'm not a twit and I happen to have the goblin eye-glass that should tell us where the center really is," he quipped back. The elf-prince proudly strode further into the stream, the water reaching his knees as he stared up at the sky. A breeze moved swiftly past both of them creating a sharp whistling through the branches of the nearby Bay tree. Nuada grasped his arms and shuddered. He felt his teeth beginning to chatter as he turned to his sister. "W-w-w-why are we in our undergarments again?"

"Don't you know anything about magic?" Nuala said angrily rolling her eyes. Nuada narrowed his gaze at her, a light flashing in his expression that spoke of the beating she had once experienced when he had truly lost his patience. She sighed and strode toward him. Water surged around her thin, pale legs and caught the hem of her gauzy nightgown. "The great witches, wizards, sorcerers, sorceresses perform true spells 'sky-clad'."

"Sky-clad? What on earth does that mean?"

"It means naked, entirely without clothes or other coverings," she explained as she searched the sky and the water's surface carefully. Nuada gasped and shuddered all the more at the thought of being in the cold stream in the middle of the night entirely unclothed. "This is the next best thing. I hope it doesn't block the corporeal transmissions of our chi into the cosmos."

"Do you even know what you're saying?" Nuada laughed. Nuala glared at him and stomped once splashing water fully onto her brother and causing him to shudder harder. He growled. "Urgh! You're no sorceress and you barely pay attention to our lessons about using magic."

"That's because I'm advanced. I belong in lessons of a greater magnitude instead of the beginner's nonsense with you," she shot back. He shook his head. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Nuala smiled. The two had felt that a storm was not far away, so the clouds would be ready and able to catch the spell after it had risen to the sky with the moon's pull. "Someday, I will be the greatest elf-sorceress that ever lived. The kingdoms will know my name far and wide and everyone will call on me for their magic. I will be as wondrous as the Ceridwen!" Thunder roared across the sky again, louder. She gasped and pulled at the stopper on the phial even harder. "I can't get this open!" She shoved the phial and its covering toward her brother. "Open it, quickly!"

"Some sorceress! Can't even open a simple bottle!" Nuada laughed heartily. Nuala growled at him. As she raised one hand to smack him harshly an even louder crash of thunder shook the ground and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky near the Bay tree. The two shrieked and jumped. The stopper flew free of the phial and strange steam began to rise from its end. The two looked at each other in shock. Nuada finally found the courage and presence to speak first. "Well hurry up, then! What do we do now?"

"Use the eye-glass and make sure we're in the center!" Nuala commanded. More thunder rumbled overhead as Nuada began to fumble through his undershirt with the spectacle he had tied around his neck using a simple piece of thread he had pulled from his mother's skirt while she was turned. Nuala could hear rain beginning to fall in the distance. She turned and noted the phial was steaming more fully and it was growing too cold even through cloth for her to hold. She breathed in sharply as Nuada got a good grip on the spectacle and held it up to his right eye. "Hurry, brother! Are we at the very center?"

"No, not quite. We need to move a little more to the left," Nuada replied and pointed for emphasis. Nuala frowned and reached up to take the spectacle to have a look for herself. "Hey! I borrowed this from the archives and you borrowed the phial. Get away, it's mine until we return it!"

"It's not yours it's father's now let me have a look!" Nuala commanded angrily.

"Leave off and finish the spell!" Nuada retorted as he pulled away. Unfortunately, the prince had been unable to see the stream's floor clearly from its surface at night and he had not been able to detect the great stone behind his foot as he moved. He stumbled, losing his balance as the rest of him tried to compensate, and fell backward. Nuala caught the spectacle and held it in her other hand, gripping the phial and its cloth in the crook of the opposite arm. The prince gasped and tried to stand after having fallen fully into the water and getting completely drenched. He coughed and watched Nuala take the eye-glass and hold it up to her left eye. The prince frowned as his sister smiled triumphantly. He slipped several times in trying to stand and watched her expression suddenly fall. He froze and watched her. Thunder was now rumbling all around them and the prince could hear rain nearing them. He coughed more loudly and managed to stand as Nuala lowered the eye glass with a look of horror emblazoned on her face. "What is it now?"

"High water!" the princess exclaimed.

Nuada turned to look in the same direction and gasped just as a blast of water hit the pair. The two screamed in unison as the flash flood waters surged and carried them swiftly downstream. Nuada rose to the surface, managing to catch Nuala by the arm as well. As the water continued to rush around them, he tried to locate a root or a strong branch reaching down to the water's surface. Sadly, the moor was void of much life save for the grasses, wildflowers, and the large Bay tree that was now too far to help them. The two hit several of the sharper rocks forced to move by the roaring flood and several cuts had formed from them. Nuala continued to clutch the eye-glass, cloth, and phial tightly as Nuada held onto her. She opened her eyes underwater once to see about the divine contents of the phial. Her heart sank as she realized that it was now entirely empty. She would not be able to return it to the archives and avoid trouble.

Nuada suddenly noticed a great root coming out of the ground. As he took hold of it and pulled himself and his sister to the edge of the stream, he noted that they were a great distance away from the original moor and very far from the palace itself. Their parents would not be pleased. She felt herself being hoisted forward and up out of the water by her brother as he climbed more fully onto the root and pulled them toward the shore. The two coughed and shivered as they both scrambled up the root and held onto it. Nuala finally looked into her brother's face, noting that his pale skin was slightly blue with the cold. She frowned and reached out, gripping his shoulder tightly.

"I'm sorry, brother. I didn't mean to . . ." she said between gasps and coughs. Another large wave hit them. The two clung even tighter to the root and one another as the wave subsided and the wind blew harshly against them. "I wish I'd never had this silly idea in the first place."

"That's not important right now," Nuada interjected firmly. He turned toward the shore and breathed as deeply as he could. Nuala followed his gaze. "Do you have the strength to pull yourself to the shore?"

"I think so," she whimpered. He nodded to her and heaved himself forward, clutching more of the branch further away. Nuala grunted and tried to do the same, finding it far more difficult. She had barely moved a quarter of the short distance that her brother had after several minutes of struggling. Nuada, who had made it to the shore, turned back to her and frowned in disappointment and fear. He could feel her fear flowing through his own heart as well. She hung her head and sobbed as she felt strength leaving her limbs while biting cold replaced it. She looked up sadly. "I can't, I can't make it to shore."

"Hold on," Nuada said and leapt forward, keeping a good foothold on the outstretched root while reaching out for her with both hands. Nuala let go of the root with one hand and strained to meet her brother's hands. He slipped a little and then leaned back to catch himself. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward to take her hand once more. The prince made one step further out onto the roof with one foot. The water that had carried them so far down stream had also, unfortunately, removed the friction that would have made the attempt successful. Nuala watched in horror as her brother slipped and toppled past her back into the raging center of the stream. She cried out after him and reached to take hold of him. He cried out in return and was sure that he would never see the palace, his parents, his sister, or even the sun again. Suddenly, he felt a strong hand take hold of him by the back of his nightshirt. He coughed as he was lifted from the water and held several feet in the air over the shore. He looked up to see what had saved his life.

"What's this? An elfling?" a rugged man in a dark cloak said. Nuada could tell with his keen eyesight that this man was a farmer. They must have been carried a great distance away indeed to have found their way to a human settlement. He could hear the bleating of a few animals not far away. Nuada stared in disbelief as the man smiled and turned to look further upstream. He noticed Nuala and frowned. "_Two_ elflings."

"My sister," the prince managed to mutter, pointing toward her. The farmer nodded and hurried toward her. Being taller, thicker, and of a more sound mind at the moment, the farmer reached forward and took Nuala by the hand with ease. He pulled her onto the shore and carried her over to where her brother waited patiently. The two wrapped their arms around each other and shivered gratefully. Nuada noticed that the farmer was still standing a short distance away. The man was now leaning on a large walking stick and grinning at the pair. The prince cleared his throat and bowed his head. "Your assistance is most appreciated, sir. We thank you for your efforts on our behalf."

"Awfully well-spoke for an elfling," the man said scratching his chin. "Not of the ordinary sort are you . . . either of you?"

"I am Prince Nuada Silverlance the son of King Balor," he said proudly. The man lifted a brow and smirked at the prince's attention to protocol and propriety even half-dressed, in the rain, and recently rescued. The farmer did all he could to keep from laughing at the display. The prince motioned toward his sister. "This is my sister, Princess Nuala. We are both very grateful for your help sir." The man nodded and opened his mouth to speak. Before the man could comment on the prince's impeccable manners, the pair began coughing loudly. It took several seconds for the coughing fit to end. The man scratched his chin more slowly and frowned at the two.

"Seems magic can't protect you against everything. Little ones are apt to chills no matter what they be," the man said. Nuada and Nuala clung to one another more tightly now to try and remain warm. He walked towards them, removing his cloak in one graceful swoop and placing it around both at once. "You'd better come with me to me cottage out there past the edge of the moor. The Missus will be pleased to have a couple of young ones to look after with our daughters all grown and married off now." The man placed a hand on Nuada's back and urged the two forward. He pointed to a faint glow in the distance that the two assumed was light from a window. The thought of even the slightest warmth from a tiny candle filled them with the strength to move forward. There was a promise of relief from the rain, the damp, and the night. For the time being, they did not have to return and face their parents' wrath or disappointment. All that mattered for the time being was getting into the cottage and lying down to sleep. Every few steps one of the pair would have a fit of coughing or sneezing followed by a 'bless your soul' and a list of the proper ingredients in the family tea that fixed the problem coming from the farmer's aged lips. As he led them to the doorstep and inside, the twins decided that it would be best to allow the man to speak as much as he wanted. Not only did he seem wise, but also a little fond of his own voice. "Moira, put the copper kettle on for some chill tonic; we have some refugees to look after. Miniature refugees at that."

The two felt the warmth of the fireplace and cottage walls surrounding them blissfully as the famer removed his cloak. Nuala glanced around at the walls and gasped. This was no ordinary farmer's cottage and this man's wife was surely no ordinary woman. On the wall hung tapestries of great magical beasts from far regions etched with symbols she barely recognized from her lessons. There were several bundles of drying herbs and charts (hand written) of using them to create various tonics, tinctures, and spells. In the far corner of the room, several kittens lay huddled against their mother fast asleep and Nuala then noticed that there were a few other cats gathered around the cottage fireplace. She smiled brightly. Whoever this farmer had married, she was a _**real**_ witch.


End file.
